To Trust a Dragon
by Lauraena
Summary: This fic follows the basic plotline of the story, but with a twist, Kumo (my OC) is Chihiro's older sister and she enters the spirit world w/ her sis. Kumo/Haku pairing MUCH l8er. But this fic continues on after they leave the spirit world. Chapter 2 up!
1. Enter the World of the Spirits

A/N: Yes, I'm back with another fic that contains an OC (for you ignorant ppl and OC is an original character). This is a Spirited Away fic (no shit, if it wasn't a Spirited Away it wouldn't be in this category). But, as an fyi, so you people don't get confused (especially those blondes out there) the setting is the same as in the movie, but I am not going to follow the plot line what-so-ever. So, now that I'm done with my rambling, here is the first chapter of my fic. 

Disclaimer (don't you hate these?): Ok why am I even writing this? We all know I don't own Spirited Away, Miyazaki-sama does. If I owned it I wouldn't be writing a fanfic because I came up with the genius original story by myself, but I didn't come up with the original story, so I'm writing a fanfic, hence the reason I must insert this disclaimer. Oh, and for the record, I don't own Shonen Jump either, I don't know who does, but who ever it is, you cant sue me b/c I put this disclaimer in here. 

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To Trust a Dragon

Chapter One: Enter the World of the Spirits

((Thoughts)) A/N 

Trees flash by the solitary small blue car driving along a winding road. A family of four is inside the car, cramped by numerous boxes. Whimpering can be heard from what appears to be a bouquet of pink flowers.

The flowers rustle, then shift and the rounded face of a young ten-year-old girl appears. She looks out the window of the car, her face forlorn. 

In the seat directly next to her, or what would be directly next to her if not for the large cardboard box of j-pop CDs also sitting in the seat, sits a teen-aged girl. The girl has headphones on her ear, head bobbing to the music, as she mumbles the japanese lyrics to herself. "Fukai fukai mori 

"Kumooooooo," comes the whiny voice of the girl with a brown ponytail, "stop singing."

The tinny whining voice pierces the sound barrier of the older girl's j-pop blaring in her ears. "Oh shut the hell up Chihiro." She glares at her younger sister then rummages in the black sling pack, which bares the kanji for "bad", that rests at her feet. 

A woman with close-cropped brown hair turns around, sternly looking at the girl identified as Kumo. "I will not tolerate language like that from you young lady."

Kumo rolls her blue gray eyes at her mother and turns her CD player up to full volume. Her black polished fingernails flick through the pages of the newest issue of Shonen Jump as she tunes out the world. Suddenly, shattering the silence like glass, comes the tinny, annoying voice of an annoying ten-year-old. 

"Mom! My flowers are dying!" Cries Chihiro, leaning over her mother's seat showing her the flowers, as if to prove a point. 

"I told you not to smother them," her mother says, "we will put them in a vase when we get to our new home."

Chihiro slumps back in her seat, muttering. "I finally get a bouquet and it's a goodbye present…"

Fed up, Kumo puts her headphones around her neck and turns to glare at her sister. "Oh stop complaining, at least you got a present, ok? I don't even think my friends noticed I left…"

"It's a wonder why…." Chihiro mutters. 

Kumo rolls up the magazine she was reading and reaches over the box of CDs to hit Chihiro on the head with it. It makes a resounding "thudding" noise. "Hm, interesting noise, must mean your head is hollow, nothing in there but air, eh?"

Tears spring to Chihiro's eyes as she is hit with the rolled magazine. "Moooom! Make Kumo stop!"

Their father, who is driving, turns around in his seat, one hand still on the steering wheel. "Both of you stop it. Kumo if you don't stop brutalizing your sister I'll take that CD player of yours." 

Kumo's eyes widen in horror, partly at the thought of having her precious CD player taken away, and partly because her dad had just missed the turn off and driven onto a road that had shrines at the side. "Dad watch out!"

Her father turns and slams onto the breaks right before the shrines. "Whew, that was close…" He looks around to get his bearings. "Hey that's our house up there, that blue one." He points to it. "I bet this road will take us there, lets go."

Everyone else in the car groans. "Not one of you famous shortcuts dad…" Complains Kumo

Her father shoots a warning glare at her and steps on the gas and the car careens dangerously through a heavily wooded area, jostling people and boxes every which way. 

"HEY! Watch it, my computer is in the trunk, that thing is expensive!" Cries Kumo, while trying to hold onto the box of her CDs. 

"Honey! Watch out!" Cries their mom. Their father slams on the breaks right before he hits a rock sitting right in the middle of the road in front of what appears to be a very old building. 

"Wow…" says Kumo, amazed. "that building looks pretty old, maybe even from the Meiji era…lets check it out!" She kicks open the car door and grabs her sling pack, which contains chocolate bars, her laptop, some manga, a few CDs, her cell phone, and about three dozen sets of batteries. She slides the strap over her head so it is going diagonal across her chest, the bag resting on her back. 

"Kumo! Get back here, we will miss the movers!" Calls her mother.

Kumo ignores her mother and tugs on the black armsocks she wears, then twists left and right, her back popping several times. She starts to bend over to touch the toes of her buckle up platform shoes, then she remembers she is wearing a leather mini. 

Her father opens the door and steps out of the car. "For once, she has the right idea, we have been in the car for three hours, it wouldn't hurt to stretch our legs a bit. Besides, the movers have a key." 

Finally Chihiro and her mother give in to the strong will of Kumo and her father, mostly Kumo though, they don't want to incur her wrath, when you do things get very ugly. 

"Alright then, lets go!" Kumo turns on her heel and strides through the archway, followed by her mother, her father, and Chihiro, who is busy clinging to her mother. 

The quartet comes out of the archway and they are standing in a field of grass scattered with rocks, a dirt path leads to a collection of buildings off to their right. 

"I knew it, its an abandoned theme park, they built them everywhere in the early nineties, lets look around." Says her father. 

They walk up the dirt path and reach a set of stairs, they walk down them and are in what appears to be the center of the park, near a large clock. Kumo hears a snuffling noise and turns to look at her father with a raised brow, as she plays with the earring in her upper left ear. 

"Mm….something smells delicious! This way!" Says her father, striding in the direction of the aroma, followed closely by her mother and Chihiro as she brings up the rear. 

They come to a food vender's stall and both her parents take a seat while Chihiro yells at them both not to eat the food. Rolling her eyes Kumo turns on her heel and looks around for the nearest manga stand. She hears footsteps behind her and turns slightly to see Chihiro. "What do you want runt?"

"Don't leave me by myself!" Cries Chihiro. 

"Fine. Just stop your infernal whining." Says Kumo striding along all the while. She randomly takes a left and comes upon a wooden bridge that leads to a large, extensive bathhouse. "Why would you have a bath house at a theme park? People come to a theme park to have fun and ride roller coasters, not to relax and get knocked up in a bath house." 

"Can we go back Kumo, this place scares me, plus its getting dark…." Chihiro looks around frightfully. 

"Oh stop being such a baby, lets go explore that place, there might be some sake in it…ya never know…" She trails off wistfully as she starts across the bridge only to be confronted by a boy with bluish-black hair. "Who are you?"

"That isn't relevant," says the boy, who looks to be about Kumo's age. "It's getting dark, you must get across the bridge, hurry!" He shoves Chihiro then turns to look at Kumo, whose feet are still firmly planted in the same spot. "Go now!" 

"Why?" She turns and sees Chihiro's retreating back. "Ah shit if she gets lost I'm in trouble…yea…" She turns after flashing the black haired boy the "rock on" symbol with her left hand and chases Chihiro until they reach the food stall. She stops dead in her tracks after almost running into Chihiro. "What the hell?!"

Chihiro stands there, gaping, then screams. "Mom?! Dad?!"

"Wow this is crazy! My parents are pigs…..oh my fucking god…my parents are pigs…HOUSE PARTY!" Kumo screams with joy and does a little dance then sees Chihiro running to the exit of the park. "Ah shit, now I have to chase the brat again." She follows her sister to the exit.

Chihiro runs to the exit, or what she thought was the exit, where it once was there is now water. "Water?!" She screams as she teeters precariously on the edge, only to be rescued by Kumo grabbing the back of her shirt. 

"Don't read to much into it baka, I just didn't want to get grounded." She sees a boat docking and floating masks appear, red capes materializing under them. ((Wow that's awesome, I'd love to watch this but I don't know what the hell these things are and I'd rather not die before I get laid...)) She grabs her sisters hand, or tries to because her own passes through it. "Shit, we are becoming invisible…this could be a problem…Chihiro follow me!" She turns and leaps over a hedge, ducking behind it. 

Chihiro follows her older sister, and tries to jump over the hedge, but fails miserably, so she just decides to go around it. She curls up in a small ball on the ground and mutters to herself, "its all a dream, its all a dream." 

Kumo whirls around, crouched into a fighting stance How she does that in a mini and platform boots, I have no idea… as a hand lightly touches her shoulder. She sees the black haired boy from earlier.

"You have a good stance, but you wouldn't be able to hurt me." He smirks lightly.

Kumo is outraged by his comment and she takes a swing at him, her fist passing right through him. "What the…" She looks down at her hands seeing they are more transparent than before.

"Here," says the boy, holding out a berry to each Kumo and Chihiro. "Eat this, you need to eat food from this world so you wont vanish." Seeing Chihiro's look he adds, "don't worry, you wont turn into a pig."

Chihiro takes the food with out question and instantly becomes solid once more.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Asks Kumo skeptically as she continues to disappear even more. 

"You don't need to trust me, your sister is fine, see? And you are slowly disappearing, you will vanish entirely soon." He replies.

((Vanish entirely….? That means….NO COMPUTER! And I promised myself I wouldn't cease to exist before I got my drivers license and before I had been laid…)) She takes the berry from the boy and pops it into her mouth, her body parts becoming opaque once more. "Ok. So it worked, but now who are you and how do we get out of here?"

The boy smiles. "That first question is easy, I'm Haku. But the second question is not so easy, if anyone found out you two were here, there would be serious trouble, but I can help you out, follow me." He stands. 

Kumo stands as well, hey eyes glinting dangerously. "Again, how do I know I can trust you?" 

Haku smirks. "You don't." 

***WHOA! Crazily long chapter, I hope you guys like, review and tell me if I should keep going or not! Love ya lots!***

~*Lauraena*~ 


	2. Yubaba, Witch of the Bathhouse

**Despite all the flames on my previous chapter, I have decided to continue with this fic, because I, as an author, like it. If you don't like it, don't read it, but for those of you who did like it, here is the next chapter of _To Trust A Dragon_.**

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To Trust A Dragon 

Chapter 2: Yubaba, Witch of the Bathhouse

Haku leads Kumo and Chihiro down a worn dirt path, and stops when they come to a wooden gate, and he whispers in their ears. "We have to cross the bridge, you will need to hold you breath, even the tiniest breath will break the spell, understand?" Seeing both Kumo and Chihiro nod he takes Kumo's left arm and Chihiro's right and proceeds toward the bridge. 

The trio enters the flow of spirits, drawing nearer to the wooden bridge, suddenly Kumo hears a voice in her ear. "Take a deep breath and hold it." She does so and risks a glance at her sister who is holding her nose to make sure she doesn't breathe. 

They near the end of the bridge, with no mishaps. Suddenly a frog appears out of no where, hopping in the air and speaking in a shrill voice. "Master Haku!" 

Kumo just rolls her eyes at the frog, even though he can't see her. ((That frog sounds just like Chihiro…same annoying voice…)) Suddenly the frog's shrill voice cuts through her thoughts like a knife.

"What?! A human?!" Cries the frog, his eyes bulging as Chihiro appears, having taken a breath. 

"Chihiro you fool! You took a breath!" Cries Kumo, then she clasps her over her own mouth. ((Oh shit…))

"Two humans?!"

Haku puts out his hand and the frog is enveloped in a black bubble, and he grabs Kumo and Chihiro's hands as the fly past spirits and employers of the bath house, dashing through a small door, leaving confusion behind. 

"I'm sorry," says Chihiro as the crouch in a small, enclosed garden off the side of the bathhouse. "I took a breath." 

"You should be sorry, you blew our cover!" Cries Kumo, glaring at her sister. 

Haku casts a reproachful look at Kumo and he turns to Chihiro. "No Chihiro, you did very well." He shifts slightly so he is looking at both Kumo and Chihiro. "Now listen carefully, both of you. They will be looking for you."

"Well we kind of noticed that they were looking for us, I can hear them all screaming 'humans!' 'Humans!'" Says Kumo, rolling her eyes.

Haku sighs and puts a hand to each of the girl's foreheads. "Now, when things quiet down this is what you do. Go out the back gate, and all the way down the stairs. Go see Kamaji, the boiler man. Ask him for work, he will try to turn you away, or trick you into leaving, but keep asking." 

"Kamaji…" Says Chihiro faintly. 

"He works the boilers that heat the bathhouse, now go!" Says Haku. 

"Master Haku?" Comes a voice from inside. 

Haku stands and opens the sliding door. "I'm coming." He steps inside and vanishes from sight. 

"Ok runt, let's get going." Kumo stands and brushes off her skirt and roughly pulls her sister to her feet.

Chihiro gives Kumo a glare, or what she thinks is a glare, and pushes the back gate open. She holds the gate open for her sister, not because she is being polite, but because she doesn't want it to slam and alert those in the bathhouse of their presence. 

Kumo slides the gate closed behind her silently. She sees the long winding staircase, which her sister has already begun descending, while sitting down. "Chihiro, could you go any slower?" Kumo whispers fiercely and edges around her sister, taking the stairs two at a time. 

Chihiro scoots down the stairs, placing both feet on a step, then lowers the rest of her body down. She tentatively places her full weight on a stair, standing up, causing the stair to break, and she begins rolling down the rest of the staircase. 

Kumo looks up the flight of stairs from her spot at the bottom and notices someone moving very quickly, and a shrill scream reaches her ears, which abruptly stops as her sister slams into a wall face first. "Good going Chihiro."

The duo jumps down a flight of jagged stone stairs and comes to a green door. Kumo puts her hand out and turns the knob, pulling the door open, and the step into a room filled with pipes. 

Kumo strides toward the opening on the other end of the room, her boots making a soft 'thudding' noise each time they hit the ground. 

Chihiro starts to follow her sister, then hangs back undecided, until she feels Kumo tugging on her arm, telling her to hurry it up. Rather than incur her sister's wrath she quickens her pace. 

Kumo steps into a bright room with a large boiler on the left side. There is a sunken dirt floor in the center, and directly across the room is a platform, upon which sits a man with six arms. She strides across the room to him, her sister in tow. "I suppose you are Kamaji?"

Kamaji continues grinding salts and herbs in the strange bowl in front of him, staring intently at the red token in front of him. "Yea, I'm Kamaji, slave to the boiler that heats the baths."

"Well Kamaji, I'm Kumo. Haku sent us here, he said you could give us work." 

"There is no work for you here, I've got all the help I need." He motions to the soot balls. "Soot everywhere, I just cast a spell on it, giving me all the workers I could ever need." 

"Please sir! We need jobs!" Cries Chihiro.

"I told you, there is no work for you here! Leave!"

Suddenly a door slides open and a brown haired woman adorned in a pink top and pink pants with a blue apron enters, carrying a woven basket and a tray. "Kamaji where is your other bowl, the one from yesterday? I keep telling you to leave it out…." 

Kamaji hands her the empty bowl and takes the full one, using every one of his six arms to stuff food in his mouth. 

The brown haired woman takes the empty bowl and goes over and tosses brightly colored star shaped candy-like food to the soot balls, she glances around and spies Kumo and Chihiro. "Humans! You are the ones everyone is looking for!"

"They are my granddaughters," say Kamaji through a mouth full of food, "They want to work here but I've got all the help I need, why don't you take them to see Yubaba?"

"No way, I'm not risking my neck!" Cries the brown haired woman.   
"What if I gave you this roasted newt?" Asks Kamaji, holding it out. "It's a good one."

"Gimme that!" The woman grabs the newt and puts it inside her shirt, dumping the rest of the star candy on the ground for the soot balls. "Come on you two."

Kumo and Chihiro walk to the other edge of the room, Kumo goes rather reluctantly, considering she doesn't usually take orders from anyone, but given the circumstances, she figured that it might be in her best interests to take the orders without complaint. 

Chihiro puts her foot up, as if to step onto the floor, when the woman speaks. "You wont need your shoes, leave them." Chihiro nods and pulls off her shoes and socks, leaving them in the midst of the soot balls. 

"What do you mean 'leave them'? I paid a fair amount of money, I'm not leaving them anywhere!" Kumo pulls off her boots and shoves them into her sling pack, then she turns to Kamaji, her face a picture of angelic sweetness. "Thank you for the help grandfather," she says, inclining her head and goes through the small door. 

Chihiro follows her sister through the door, closely tailed by the brown haired woman, who slides the door closed behind them. "Stay close." Says the woman to Chihiro and Kumo. 

Kumo, now several inches shorter because of removing her boots, nods and drags Chihiro along, who is stopping and staring at everything every few feet. 

The brown haired woman steps into an elevator. "We have to go to the top floor, that is where Yubaba lives."

Kumo and Chihiro follow her into the elevator. Kumo swallows a lump in her throat, and with some difficulty, says, "Uh…thank you for risking your neck like this….I really appreciate it, by the way, I'm Kumo."

"Well Kumo, I'm Lin, no thanks needed." The elevator comes to a stop and the get out, and enter the heart of the bathhouse. 

Kumo looks around and lets out a low whistle as they cross a bridge on the way to the next elevator. "Damn, some of these spirits are ass ugly!" 

"Sh! Don't disrespect the spirits like that!" Says Lin as they enter the next elevator. 

They make it three-quarters of the way with no mishaps, other than being tailed by a radish spirit. Upon approaching the last elevator they are cornered by a frog. 

"Lin, what is that I smell? It's human! You smell just like a human!" 

"Oh really?" Asks Lin skeptically, then shouts over her shoulder, "If you want to go up, pull the lever on your right." 

Kumo nods slightly and reaches out, which is difficult, considering she is smashed between the wall and the radish spirit, and pulls the lever. ((My poor laptop, I hope it doesn't get crushed…))

The elevator reaches the top floor and Chihiro goes up to the large red doors, when the doorknocker comes to life. "Didn't your parents ever teach you to knock? You are the most pathetic excuse for a little girl I have ever seen…"

Kumo leans over her sister's shoulder and addresses the doorknocker. "I agree with you on that account, now, may we come in?" 

A row of doors open and suddenly Kumo and Chihiro are jerked forward, as if being pulled by an invisible string. They end up in a richly decorated room, Chihiro stumbling over herself as the pulling abruptly stops, while Kumo lands lithely on her feet, looking around the room. 

"I suppose you are Yubaba," says Kumo to the woman seated behind the desk. 

"Yes I am, and I am very busy, what do you want?" 

"We were told that you could give us a job, if that is true, then make it so." Kumo says.

Yubaba rolls her eyes and looks pointedly at Kumo and Chihiro. "So you want a job? Well tough, you aren't getting work here, I have no use for humans. I could turn you into an animal…..or maybe a lump of coal…."

"Screw the hocus-pocus granny, just give us work," Says Kumo, her patience starting to wear thin. 

"Don't say that!" Cries Yubaba, her eyes blazing. 

"Just give us work, dammit!" Cries Kumo, her voice rising. 

Suddenly a crash is heard, and a door breaks somewhere and crying is heard. "OH! You woke up the baby!" Cries Yubaba, rushing to the adjoining room. A moment later she sticks her head out again. "What are you still doing here?" 

"You want me to leave? Give my sister and I work, then we will leave," says Lauraena, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Ok, ok, just be quiet!" Yubaba emerges from the adjoining room and two fountain pens and two pieces of paper float over the girls standing in the middle of the study. "Sign your name."

Chihiro takes the pen and paper and kneels down and signs her name without a second thought and the paper sails across the room to Yubaba's hand. "Chihiro, what a pretty name…..and it belongs to me….from now on your name is Sen, understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Says Chihiro.

Yubaba turns to look at Kumo. "I thought you wanted work, no contract, no work."

"I don't put my name on anything," says Kumo, scowling. 

"You're a tough one, aren't you? Stubborn, persistent, I like you. Not afraid to speak your mind." 

"No I'm not, now I'm not signing any damn contract, just give me a job." 

Yubaba sighs. "I don't have time to argue with you…fine you can have work…"

Haku enters the room and nods to all the women in succession. "Come with me," he says, beckoning to Kumo and Chihiro. 

Both girls follow him into an elevator, which they ride down to the ground floor. 

**Ok, sorry the ending kind of sucked I know, but my fingers were starting to hurt. And I was on the phone while I was writing this, so my neck kinda hurt too……but yea, there is the chapter, next one coming soon!**

~*Lauraena*~ 


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